July 19, 2007

If you're wondering about the minimal blogging today... I was in Milwaukee, watching my nephew Cliff Kresge at the U.S. Bank Championship. You may not care about golf, and if you do, you may be focused on the British Open this week, but there is another PGA tournament, and it's here in Wisconsin. My nephew is currently tied for 11th place, so pay attention.

Anyway, that's what I was up to. They don't let you bring in cameras, so I can't show you any pictures of that, but after Cliff finished, my sister and I drove downtown and took in the museum.

Here I am with a torso:

After my sister took this picture, some guy said to us "Shame on you." What the hell? There's some idea, apparently -- here in the midwest? -- that a naked male torso is supposed to be endured with sullen solemnity or something.

As for no photos of nephew as he plays..WTF? We were allowed cameras at Greater Hartford Open (no flash). Got Tiger shots as he sunk a huge putt on 15, him coming over and telling the gallery that he wanted and needed that hole so much he almost threw up..

(1) That “shame on you” guy sounds kind of familiar. I’ll bet he’s the same sort of humorless snob who could read a blog post (about a newspaper captioning “The Creation of Adam” with the insinuation that God is gay) and then complain all haughty that the comment thread is insufficiently reverential. You know, the same sort of critic who should have his genitals bitten by a snake.

(2) Torso spelled backwards is osrot.

(3) Buns of stone spelled backwards is enots fo snub.

(4) We all have our weird little quirks. One of mine is that, whenever I see sculpture body parts on display like that, I like to fill in the missing parts, in proportion to the height of display, and then imagine the resulting grotesquerie walking about the room. How’s that for a happening good time? Ha!

MM: Yes, this used to be called the Greater Milwaukee Open (GMO). It's at the Brown Deer Golf Club.

Cedarford: There were definitely no cameras. Last time I attended a PGA tournament, my bag was searched, and I would have had to hike back to my car if they'd found contraband. The guy showing me where to park made a point of saying that phones had to be left in the car, and I asked about cameras. It was clear: no cameras. And no one had a camera, except press photographers. Very obvious.

Mark: Good point about the relative rippedness of the front and back of the torso!

Ann,You are only 3 miles from where I grew up, River Hills WI. From Brown Deer Park, take Good Hope Road east to Pheasant Lane; left (north) just before I-43, drive past Calumet Road, then half mile left into a culdesac off Pheasant Lane; 7855. The French Chateau mansion on the right is the house my father built in 1965. The brick is from the last boxcars of Colonial Williamsburg restoration. You love art, this estate is worth a look.

Cheap shot to call Dell your cool older sister. You have no other sisters and I think you just gave her a cheap zing. Or was that really a compliment in disguise....she's so youthful looking that I have to inform you all that she's actually older than me?

Maybe the guy who said "Shame on you" thinks there is a policy against photographing museum displays, and he was thinking in terms of copyright or artist's rights when he said "shame on you" (for taking photos in a place that isn't supposed to have cameras)

I don't know if there is such a policy at that museum, but it's possible the commenter thought there was...